Method for loading tube bundles on railcars and tube packs for railcars

ABSTRACT

A method for loading tube bundles on a railcar includes placing the tube bundles lengthwise on the car and stacked above the bed of the car to form tube bundle packs. The packs are separated by panels. A spacing block is configured to go within the longitudinally extending remaining space left over after loading a finite number of packs. This spacing block include parallel plates which are rigidly displaced one from another by blocks. Padding is arranged on the outer side of the plates and the panels. Padding is arranged on the bulkheads as well. The panels and spacing block may be tied to the railcar through boards and dunnage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/231,682, filed Sep. 20, 2005, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,381,020, and entitled “METHOD FOR LOADING TUBE BUNDLES ON RAILCARS ANDTUBE PACKS FOR RAILCARS”, the contents of which are incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the present invention is systems for loading railcars andpacks thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The rail industry has developed a great deal of experience in thehandling of materials on railcars. Particular requirements have beenestablished for stacking materials on flat cars including dunnage,blocking and specific strapping requirements.

With bundled, elongate products such as tubing, wood beams are laidlaterally across the car as dunnage to support the bundles. The tubesare in bundles and extend longitudinally of the railcar. Short stakes,blocking and strapping then retain the load in place. FIG. 2 illustratesone such recommended stacking.

In spite of these carefully defined methods and devices for retainingtube bundles, the natural vibration of the car can result in individualtubes slowly working longitudinally outwardly from the bundle. If leftunattended, the individual tubes can extend into harms way or come intocontact with adjacent tube bundles or bulkheads. This can make thebundles difficult to unload and cause damage to the tubing. Substantialdamage to the ends of tubes has been experienced in the industry fromthis phenomenon. Naturally, bulkheads can be placed against the ends ofthe tubing or the tubing against barriers. However, such assembliescreate their own problems in terms of loading, unloading and damage frommotion of the tubes relative to other tubes, the bulkheads and barriers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method for loading tube bundleson railcars and the tube pack created. The present invention is employedwith tube bundles placed lengthwise on the bed of the railcar, stackedconventionally above the bed to form packs of multiple tube bundles.

In a first separate aspect of the present invention, a method forloading tube bundles on a railcar having a bed and bulkheads includesplacing the tube bundles lengthwise on and stacked above the bed to formpacks of multiple tube bundles, affixing resilient sheet material toeither side of multiple panels and placing the panels with the resilientsheet material at the ends of the packs. The packs and panels are thenclosely abutted with little or no longitudinal space thereamong. A finallongitudinal gap with all packs loaded on the railcar is then filledwith a spacing block configured with fixed parallel plates rigidlydisplaced and including resilient sheet material to either side of thespacing block.

In a second separate aspect of the present invention, a method forloading tube bundles on a railcar having a bed and bulkheads includesplacing the tube bundles lengthwise on and stacked above the bed to formsix packs of multiple tube bundles. Resilient sheet material is affixedto the railcar bulkheads and to either side of each of four panels.First and second packs are closely abutted against the railcar bulkheadsand panels are placed at the other ends of the packs. Additional packsand panels are then added to finally leave a longitudinal gap. A spacingblock is then configured to include parallel plates rigidly displacedone from another with resilient sheet material on either side of thespacing block and placed in the longitudinal gap.

In a third separate aspect of the present invention, a tube pack for arailcar having a bed and bulkheads includes tube bundles arranged inpacks lengthwise on the bed. A spacing block having parallel platesrigidly displaced one from another and resilient sheet material on theparallel plates is positioned along with the packs. Panels withresilient sheet material on either side are located between all adjacentpacks except adjacent the spacing block.

In a fourth separate aspect of the present invention, any of theforegoing aspects are combined to further advantage.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved method for loading tube bundles on a railcar. It is a furtherobject of the present invention to provide an improved tube pack for arailcar. Other and further objects and advantages will appearhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a railcar with a tube pack.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the stacked tube bundles of FIG. 1 illustratingconventional packing of tube bundles.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a panel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spacing block.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning in detail to the Figures, a railcar, generally designated 10,includes a bed 12 and bulkheads 14, 16. The bulkheads 14, 16 are shownto be at either end of the bed 12. The railcar also includes standardrailroad trucks, coupling and equipment (not shown).

Tube bundles 18 are shown placed on the bed 12 in acceptableconfigurations in accordance with standard practice. One such example ofapproved tube bundle stacking is illustrated in FIG. 2 which shows thepacking of various sizes of tube bundles 18 to form a pack. Dunnage 20is conventionally placed between rows of tube bundles 18 in the pack.Typically the tube bundles 18 are placed on the bed 12 by forklifts.Strapping 22 is able to tie each of the packs of tube bundles 18 to thebed 12 of the railcar 10.

Panels 24 are prepared from ¾″ or 1″ plywood sheets. As plywood comes instandard sizes, the standard sheets are appropriately combined toprovide a panel 24 which extends across the full end of a pack of twobundles 18. Each panel 24 includes resilient sheeting material 26, 28 oneach side. The resilient sheeting material 26, 28 is also intended tocover the end of a pack of tube bundles 18. The material 26, 28 may beof a number of durable materials. In the initial embodiments, resilientsheet material 26, 28 has been mats of woven hemp rope which are stapledto the panels 24. Rubber backed carpeting and the like may substitutefor the woven hemp rope mats 26, 28.

Also employed is a spacing block, generally designated 30, asillustrated in FIG. 4. The spacing block 30 includes parallel plates 32,34 which are rigidly displaced one from another by wood blocks 36between the plates 32, 34. Either side of the spacing block 30 includesresilient sheeting material 38, 40 stapled to the outside surfaces.Again, mats 38, 40 of woven hemp rope have been employed.

A tube pack on a railcar employing the elements described above is heredescribed for a railcar 62 feet long between the bulkheads 14, 16 withthe tubes being 10 feet in length. Resilient sheeting material 42, 44 isalso stapled to the bulkheads 14, 16 which are conventionally of wood.First and second packs 46, 48 are first loaded onto the bed 12 of therailcar 10. These packs are assembled from tube bundles 18 on therailcar with dunnage 20 and strapping 22 with the packs closely abuttingthe bulkheads with little or no longitudinal space between the ends ofthe packs 46, 48 and the bulkheads 14,16 with the resilient sheetingmaterial 42, 44 in place. Panels 24 with resilient sheeting material 26,28 are then placed at the ends of the first and second packs 46, 48distant from the bulkheads 14, 16. To retain the panels 24 fixed on therailcar so that they will not walk off the car during transit, boards 50are nailed to the panels 24 and to the dunnage 20.

Following the placements of the panels 24 adjacent to the first andsecond packs 46, 48, third and fourth packs 52, 54 are assembled on therailcar 10 by closely abutting the packs 52, 54 against the previouslyplaced panels 24 with little or no longitudinal space thereamong.Additional panels 24 are then placed fixed to the railcar by nailingboards 50 to the panels and to the adjacent dunnage 20. Fifth and sixthpacks 56, 58 are then positioned as the third and fourth packs.

With the railcar 10 between the bulkheads 14, 16 being 62 feet in thisexample, the ten foot long tube bundles 18 forming the six packs 46, 48,52, 54, 56, 58 and the intermediate panels 24 and resilient sheetingmaterial 42, 44 being thereamong, a longitudinal space remains. Thisremaining space is far too short to receive an additional pack of tubebundles 18. The longitudinal dimension of this space can also verysignificantly due to tolerances and placement of the load. This space isestimated or measured and a spacing block 30 is configured with parallelplates 32, 34 and resilient sheeting material 38, 40 to either side ofthe spacing block 30. The configuration is undertaken by spacing theplywood parallel plates 32, 34 using wood blocks 36. The wood blocks arecut to an appropriate length for the spacing block 30 to fit closelywithin the remaining longitudinal gap. The spacing block 30 can beanchored to the railcar through the dunnage 20 as with the panels 24.The longitudinal remaining space can be located between the center packs56, 58, between any of the adjacent packs or between one of the packs46, 48 and one of the bulkheads 16, 18.

Accordingly, an improved system for facilely loading tube bundles on arailcar has been disclosed along with an improved tube pack. Whileembodiments and applications of this invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that manymore modifications are possible without departing from the inventiveconcepts herein. The invention, therefore is not to be restricted exceptin the spirit of the appended claims.

1. A tube pack for a railcar having a bed and bulkheads, comprising tubebundles arranged in packs lengthwise on the bed; a spacing block betweentwo adjacent ones of said packs or between one of said bulkheads and oneadjacent one of said packs and including fixed parallel plates rigidlydisplaced one from another and resilient sheet material on the parallelplates on the exterior of the spacing block; panels between all adjacentones of said packs except adjacent the spacing block, each panelincluding resilient sheet material on either side thereof.
 2. The tubepack of claim 1 further comprising resilient sheet material affixed tothe bulkheads facing the packs.
 3. The tube pack of claim 1, the spacingblock including wood blocks extending between the parallel plates, theparallel plates being plywood.
 4. The tube pack of claim 1, the spacingblock including fabricating the parallel plates with at least one woodblock extending therebetween, the parallel plates being plywood.
 5. Thetube pack of claim 1, further comprising boards fixed to the panels andextending longitudinally along the adjacent ones of said packs, thepacks including dunnage therein, the boards extending to and being fixedto the dunnage.
 6. The tube pack of claim 5, the boards being nailed tothe panels and to the dunnage.
 7. The tube pack of claim 1, the spacingblock being between adjacent ones of said packs.
 8. The tube pack ofclaim 7, there being little or no space between the panels and therespective adjacent packs, between the spacing block and the respectiveadjacent packs and between the bulkheads and the respective adjacentpacks, all of said packs, said panels, said bulkheads, and said storageblock with the resilient sheet material therebetween.
 9. The tube packof claim 1, there being six of said packs, four of said panels and thespacing block being between adjacent packs.
 10. The method of claim 1,the resilient sheet material being woven hemp rope forming mats.